We stumbled upon Chattanooga a few years ago when I saw that Outside named it one of the "Best towns ever". When I realized how close it was, I knew we had to check it out. We've been a handful of times, four or five maybe, and we enjoy it so much that anytime I run a race on the northwest side of Atlanta a day trip to Chattanooga is usually on the list of possible things to do with the rest of our day.
This particular weekend trip was a result of both Amanda and I just needing to get away from everything for a few days. We needed a little re-boot, so we packed everything up on Friday and made our way up to Tennessee that night. Our base of operations for this winter weekend getaway was the Chattanoogan hotel, it's a really nice spot and we've moved up in the world from staying at the holiday in. The Chattanoogan is a little more expensive that somewhere that we would typically stay, but we had stayed there for one night during the fall and decided that it was our favorite hotel. This turned out to be a great call, because we got a chance to explore the city's southside, which we'd previously neglected.
This is a running blog, so I'll get to the point, Chattanooga is an amazing trail running destination. I haven't been to Boulder or Bend, but I still believe that the Scenic City is a must see for any trail runner. From Stringers Ridge (a personal favorite) just two miles from downtown, to Lookout Mountain towering 2,389 feet above the city, it features a ton of great places to get out an log some awesome miles. Chattanooga hosts the Salomon/Rock Creek trail series with everything from 10k trail runs to a three day stage race and the newly minted Thunder Rock 100. The trails range from rolling double track to steep mountain ascents, and technically challenging rock and root gardens. The place really has something for everyone.
Despite taking a few days off last week, I wasn't going to miss a chance to get out on some of the local trails while we were in town, so I planned a long run on Lookout Mountain on Saturday and a shorter downtown tour for Sunday. My plan on Saturday was to get up and head to Craven house about half way up the mountain to run the Big Daddy Loop, a trail run that combines seven trails, including the bluff trail that is cut into the side of the mountain high up with amazing views of the Tennessee River Gorge.
I slept in a little bit on Saturday morning and then knocked out the news clips for work (I have to do these everyday and they are the bane of my existence). This process took a little bit longer than I would have liked and I started stressing out about getting a late start, but I had to remind myself I was supposed to be on a weekend getaway vacation and slow my roll. This is something that I've talked to Josh Ferenc about at length and I'm sure we aren't the only ones who do it. Because work and life can be so stressful whenever we have a weekend or a few days off, I feel like I have to cram as many fun things as humanly possible into that free time, otherwise I am wasting it. Then I end up stressing out about not taking advantage of every second that I can.
It's sad, but it reminds of this quote from the Scientology episode of South Park
"It's Saturday! we have to have as much fun as possible."That's exactly how I feel on the weekends or really whenever I'm not at work. I took a deep breath and decided to venture out to one of the many local coffee houses to grab some breakfast. I scoured Roots Rated (the best website/app for things to do outside and places to eat after) and Amanda and I settled on Mean Mug Coffee, a relatively new spot just a couple blocks away from our hotel in the southside neighborhood. It was a nice morning so we decided to walk over, which was cool because we got to take in some new sights. When we walked in the Mean Mug, I knew that we'd hit the jackpot for Amanda. She's a sucker for a good cup of coffee and this place was awesome. It had a really cool vibe, just coffee house enough without being all douchey and pretentious.
They had really cool decor, wood everywhere, vintage bikes above the door, and a chalk board menu with all of their drinks. Amanda got a mocha and some steel cut oats and I had a bacon and egg biscuit and a green tea. I'm not a big coffee guy, but it was nice to order something not coffee and not get stared at like I had 16 heads. More importantly, the biscuit was freaking amazing. The best biscuit I've ever had and I live in the south now so I eat biscuits. We relaxed at Mean Mug for a bit then walked back to the hotel. On the way back we saw a bunch of people in town for a comic convention. It was pretty funny. We saw like 14 Indiana Jones.
Once we got back to the hotel I jumped in the rad wagon and drove up to Craven House to start my run. There was a "ton" of snow on the mountain, ton being southern for 4-6 inches, but there was a decent path that had been tramped down by hikers and other runners, so I set out to get 10-12 miles in. Originally my plan was to run the Big Daddy loop, but based on the snow I was a little concerned with what kind of shape the bluff trail would be in. It's cut into the side of the mountain and in some places it can be a little sketchy when it's 100 percent dry. I decided to run an alternate version of the run that only had about 2 miles on the bluff trail instead of 4 or 5.
The run starts out descending from Craven House on the rifle pits trail down to the upper truck trail. After leveling out on upper truck, I dropped down a little further on the lower gum springs trail to the skyuka trail. This is a nice long winding trail that rolls it's way through the forest along the side of the mountain. This was probably the most fun part of the run. Since I'm not in great shape, I just let the trail dictate my pace as gravity pulled me down the descents and I grinded my way up the rolling hills. The other thing that makes this part of the run cool is that you cross into Georgia about half way to the spring. When I reached skyuka springs I stopped and tore into an Untapped maple packet. I needed the energy boost because the John Smartt trail is a lung and leg buster. It switchbacks it's way back up to the upper truck trail over a mile and on a true Big Daddy loop it climbs another mile up to the bluff trail. When I got to the next trail intersection, I noticed a distinctive lack of footprints continuing up John Smartt and decided to play it smart and take upper truck. At this point, I also started making my way back to Tennessee.
Upper truck was really nice after the tough climb. It's a double track trail, a lot like a jeep road or old rail road bed, with a couple of rollers. I saw a few people out on the trail hiking, so that made me feel like I made the right call. After a few miles on upper truck I reached the split for upper gum springs. This bad boy is another leg and lung buster and it was especially tough in the snow. I did a lot of slipping and sliding and after more than an hour I was definitely feeling a lack of fitness. When I finally reached the top where gum springs meets the bluff trail I was treated to some awesome views of the Tennessee river valley.
The bluff trail was in a little better shape than I thought it would be, with a six inch trench trail that had been tramped down. There were still some harrowing sections as the trail flirts with the edges of cliffs for pretty much it's entire length. I'm still trying to get the hang of the GoPro, so I didn't get many great shots, but I did put together a video that I'll post below.
The bluff trail is what really makes this run worth it. Even if you feel like you are taking your life in your hands at times, the views are awesome and it's a big rush to be picking your way along the side of a cliff. By the time I got back to my car I was pretty gassed. The run clocked in around two hours which was probably a little excessive, but I was stoked that my hamstring felt good and I had an absolute blast.
After finishing the run, I headed back to the hotel and grabbed Amanda. We hit the Terminal brewhouse for a burger and a beer then went back up to Lookout mountain for a short hike. We wanted to checkout sunset rock but by the time we made it up there we weren't sure we'd have time so we went about a mile and half then turned back for the car. We went to Rock/Creek to check out all the sweet outdoor gear, but didn't leave with anything.
After our trip to Rock/Creek we headed back to the hotel then walked downtown for dinner. More beer was in order at World of Beer which had a live band and some good food. We hung out for a bit then made our way back to the hotel to call it a night.
Day 2:
Sunday kicked off with a short run downtown, across the Walnut Street Bridge and into the park below then I headed back to the hotel. I would have liked to have gone up to stringers ridge, but I didn't want to push my hamstring too far so I kept things nice and short. Nothing local is open on Sunday, so we hit Panera for breakfast then walked around downtown for a bit. We decided to check out the aquarium and that turned out to be a great idea. We wanted to see the Otters and last time they were napping, not this time. They were out running around, climbing and swimming. It was really cool and that was worth the price of admission.
We walked over the Walnut Street bridge (seriously one of my favorite things in the world) to Whole Foods to grab some lunch then walked back downtown to the car. It was starting to rain, so we called it a day and made the 2 hour drive back to Atlanta, ending our weekend with a pizza and some cookies from Whole Foods.
That was a great mental health weekend. It was awesome to relax, get outside, and just clear my mind for a bit. I needed that after having a stressful few months at work and being frustrated with my running. Now I'm looking forward to our trip back to New England even more.
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